?EAT ASHES. 31^ 



turf (from the neighborhood of Moscow, by the way) examined by 

 Mr. Hermann, yielded of carbonaceous matter, nitrolin and vegeta- 

 ble remains 77.5 ; of ulmic acid 17.0 ; extract of humus 4.0 ; am- 

 monia 0.25 ; and ash 1.25=100.0 The elementary composition of 

 these varieties of turf, analyzed oy M. Regnault, gave from 57 to 

 58 of carbon ; 5.1 to 5.6 hydrogen ; 30.8 to 31.8 oxygen and azote ; 

 and 4.6 to 5.6 ashes. 



Turf or peat has consequently a certain resemblance to mould or 

 .humus ; it differs, hovvever, in the absence of substances soluble in 

 water ; and it is easy to imagine that, produced as it is in connection 

 with water, continually soaked in moisture, soluble matters ought 

 «ot to be expected in it in appreciable quantity. Peat might, in 

 fact, be likened to the insoluble part of humus left after lixiviation. 

 A.nd there is this further resemblance, that peat, like the humus 

 (vhich has been thoroughly lixiviated, if exposed to the air, by and 

 iy acquires a quantity of soluble material, the evolution of which is 

 also hastened by the contact of the alkalies. The employment of 

 hirf as manure, in some countries, confirms the propriety of this 

 mode of viewing its nature and constitution ; and then it is well 

 knowc that bogs consisting of pure turf, when drained and limed, 

 become tolerably fertile lands, yielding magnificent crops of oats 

 and turnips especially. 



The ashes of turf we might expect to contain the mineral sub- 

 stances usually found in the ashes of plants, and further a certain 

 quantity of additional earthy matter. But this is not the case : sev- 

 eral alkaline salts, indeed, have been discovered in very small pro- 

 portion ; but no chemist, to my knowledge, has ever even suspected 

 the presence of any of the phosphates ; a special search which was 

 made for them in my laboratory failed to discover them. This is a 

 fact which, I own, amazed me ; some coal ash, and another ash 

 produced from lignite, gave a result equally negative. We might 

 imagine the disappearance of the soluble salts ; but how the earthy 

 phosphates should disappear ; how the ashes of coal should come 

 to be without a trace of phosphoric acid, when we see that the iron 

 ore, in connection with the coal fields, is always more or less phos- 

 phorigerous,* is surprising. 



Turf or peat ashes are valuable improvers of the soil, and are in 

 Treat request among intelligent farmers. Analysis, in fact, indicates 

 several substances in their composition as calculated to assist vege- 

 tation ; carbonate of lime, in a state of extreme subdivision ; occa- 

 sionally sulphate of lime, (gypsum ;) calcined clay, whose action 

 upon strong and retentive lands is always beneficial ; silica in a fa- 

 vorable state for assimilation ; finally, alkaline salts, chlorides, sul- 

 phates, carbonates, and, perhaps, in spite of the negative given by 

 chemical analysis, traces of the phosphates. 



The peat of the bogs of Sceaux, near Chiteau-Landon, leaves 19 

 per cent of ashes, composed, according to M. Berthier, of : — 



* Our author might have added the fact, that the common bog iron ore of this COUB 

 try is a phosphate of iron.— Eng. Ed. 



27 



